


Comfort Sprite

by NervousOtaku (orphan_account)



Series: Tales of a 144 Player Fansession! [10]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Kamina - Freeform, Mourning, SBURB Fan Session
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 14:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10336297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/NervousOtaku
Summary: Or: My Player Can't Help But Wonder If She Did The Right Thing, Especially Since Her Father Died Protecting Her





	

The discovery on the Land of Ultraviolet and Libraries had shaken Caitlin.

 _Every single thing_ her father _ever_ wrote. She could confirm them as her father's in a number of ways— the pseudonym of Quiet Grace, the style, and the fact that she still had the original manuscripts. But the fact that one of the planets in this sick game had apparently copied all those works, published them, and now kept three copies of each...

The Seer didn't know if she was angry or depressed.

She swept through another of the little portals, returning her to her house. Several weaker underlings fled upon seeing her.

Biting her lip, Caitlin left the tower of a house and stepped into the fresh air of LOIAP. She automatically went to the small concrete Celtic cross not too far away. The ivy was already trying to claim the space, so she cut it away, her sword slicing through green flesh. The scraps of plant-matter thrown away, Caitlin now sat down before the grave.

She didn't say anything. Didn't speak to the body buried there.

Instead, after a moment of contemplative silence, she said aloud, “Okamina.”

In a flash of red-violet, her sprite appeared near her, barking, “Yo, sup, sis?” with a cocky fanged grin.

Okaminasprite had been made with a prototyping of Caitlin's childhood stuffed animal, a black lab puppy called Mackey. She'd had Mackey since she was a baby, and had only gone to sleep without him when he was taken to be washed. In more recent years, she'd made a collar for him out of amber beads and stretch-cord. It was still present on Okaminasprite's neck. The second prototyping had been done post-entry, using a statuette of one of her favorite anime-characters, Kamina. The Kamina-personality had won out over Mackey's, but he still held all of Mackey's memories and loving attitude towards Caitlin. He now appeared as a slightly werewolfish Kamina with floppy dog-ears.

“How were things while I was gone?” Caitlin asked quietly, not looking at the sprite.

“Pretty awesome! I beat up a few of those cheeky bastards that thought they could ransack your room and got some grist for ya! Seriously, who the hell do they think they are, waltzing into our house and wrecking our shit? And who the hell do they think I am, to think that I'd just let them?”

The long, rambling speech brought a tiny smile to her face, but Caitlin was still upset.

His spiel about the underlings and how amazing he was done, Okamina noticed how silent she was.

“Hey, Caitlin? What's up?”

“... Did you know... she sent her books _everywhere_. To all kinds of publishers... and not a _single one_ accepted _any_ of them... but _here_... on Callisto's planet... they have multiple complete and bound copies...?” she sniffed.

Okamina was quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“Did I do the right thing? Going with her when she and Mommy separated? Would it have been better if I stayed with everyone else?” Caitlin said, a small sob finally choking it's way free. “She wouldn't have had to work as hard... she could've spent more time writing... more time _trying_... She could've had a _better life_... but I...”

“Yo, listen. If you had stayed with your mom and all those screaming brats, your old man would've still kicked the bucket. It just would've been on Earth during the Reckoning rather than here fighting six cyclopses. And _then_ it would've been your old woman and the kids dying here, at the hands of monsters.” Okamina told her.

Caitlin shook her head. “I just...! If she hadn't been protecting me, she could've _lived!_ If I hadn't been so _weak_ that I broke my leg and sprained my wrist, I could've helped her, or I could've run! She wouldn't've had to concern herself with me!”

Okamina was once again silent, arms crossed as he peered at her through triangular shades. At length, a quiet huff left him, and he drifted down so he wasn't hovering above her. Instead, he was curled around her on the ground.

“Caitlin,” he said softly, “I'm not gonna tell ya to grit those teeth, but ya really oughta, sis. Think about it. Would your dad want you to just give up and quit like this? After she gave up literally _everything_ for you?”

A strangled sob left the Seer, and she hid her face in her hands.

“Do you remember that night, a year or two before your folks split? The night you had a nightmare about everyone dying and you not knowing until a week later?” the sprite asked gently. “You got up and wandered around, crushing me in your arms and crying quietly so you wouldn't wake anyone up, but your dad still heard. When she wanted to know what was wrong, you asked if it was okay to be scared. She listened as you explained, and then... do you remember what she said?”

Caitlin cried for a minute longer, then spoke into her hands, voice muffled.

“What's that? Sorry, sis, can't hear ya.” Okamina said, poking her cheek through her fingers.

Caitlin slowly removed her hands. Her face was wet and shiny.

“She said... th-that it's okay to be scared... and that fear is _good_... It helps... helps you figure out wh-what is right... A-and she said... that if she died... it would be on... on _her_ terms, n-not someone else's...”

“Exactly. So do you think anything would've changed for the better? _Honestly?_ ”

Scrubbing at her sticky face with her sleeve, the Seer shook her head.

“That's right. I mean, I get that it's hard, with those visions of yours. It's hard and no one, not even me, understands. Heck, not even the Doom-guy with all the tentacles understands! But you're _strong_. Your dad _knew_. Your mom and your siblings _knew_. Everyone here in the Incipisphere knows it— You are _kick-ass_ strong, awesome enough that Team Dai-Gurren woulda taken ya without any references! You ain't really gonna let a little thing like this stop ya, are ya?”

“... You didn't...”

“Exactly!”

As Caitlin nodded, the sprite streaked away, back into the house. It only took a few seconds for him to return, a handkerchief in one clawed hand and a sprite medallion in the other.

“C'mon, sis, that's gross. Clean yerself up.” he grinned, handing her the handkerchief. She gave him a dirty look, but took the offered fabric and started scrubbing at her face again.

“And I think it's probably about time I give ya this thing, too.”

“The sprite medallion.” Caitlin mumbled as it was handed to her.

“Sounds like you already know how the thing works. Anyway, now you can call me up when you need a feelings-jam and don't wanna get too personal with those two chicks. Although the one has a real good rack—”

“You're such a _dog!_ ” Caitlin scolded, though it was offset by her snicker.

Okamina grinned, showing off his fangs as he barked three times.

Getting clumsily to her feet, Caitlin bowed to the cross. Okamina crossed his arms again, nodding in approval. As she turned to him, she flung a hand up into the air. Again, a grin spread across his muzzle, and he mirrored the action.

“Spin on, sis.” he said encouragingly.


End file.
